George Washington Carver: From Slave to Scientist (Heroes of History)

Once a kidnapped slave baby, George Washington Carver (1864?-1943) found freedom in learning everything he could about the world around him. Overcoming poverty and racism, George became a brilliant scientist and a gifted professor who dedicated his expertise to helping black farmers escape the devastating grip of poverty. George's scientific creativity knew no limits. His ingenious experimentation with peanuts and other plants helped rescue the failing Southern economy.

Up from Slavery

Booker T. Washington fought his way out of slavery to become an educator, statesman, political shaper, and proponent of the "do-it-yourself" idea. In his autobiography, he describes his early life as a slave on a Virginia plantation, his steady rise during the Civil War, his struggle for education, his schooling at the Hampton Institute, and his years as founder and president of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, which was devoted to helping minorities learn useful, marketable skills.

The Final Summit

This is mankind’s last chance. Centuries of greed, pride, and hate have sent humanity hurtling toward disaster, and far from its original purpose. There is only one solution that can reset the compass and right the ship, and it is only two words. With time running out, it is up to David Ponder and a cast of history’s best and brightest minds to uncover this solution before it is too late. The catch? They are allowed only five tries to discover the answer. Andy Andrews combines a riveting narrative with astounding history in order to show us the one thing we must do when we don’t know what to do.

The Noticer Returns: Sometimes You Find Perspective, and Sometimes Perspective Finds You

Perspective is a powerful thing. Andy Andrews has spent the past five years doing a double take at every white-haired old man he sees, hoping to have just one more conversation with the person to whom he owes his life. Through a chance encounter at a local bookstore, Andy is reunited with the man who changed everything for him - Jones, also known as “The Noticer.”

Little Things: Why You Really Should Sweat the Small Stuff

The Little Things embodies Andy Andrews' own approach to life and work, detailing for the first time some of the exclusive material that he uses to teach and coach some of the most successful corporations, teams, and individuals around the world. In his unique humorous style, Andy shows how people succeed by actually going against the modern adage "don't sweat the small stuff". By contrast, Andy proves that it is in concentrating on the smaller things that we add value and margin.

The Heart Mender: A Story of Second Chances

In 1942, German subs are dispatched to the Gulf of Mexico to sink U.S. vessels carrying goods and fuel. While taking a late-night walk, Helen Mason - widowed by war - discovers the near-lifeless body of a German sailor. Enraged at the site of Josef Landermann's uniform, Helen is prepared to leave him to die when an unusual phrase, faintly uttered, changes her mind. In The Heart Mender, a small town must prepare itself for the worst the world has to offer, and Josef and Helen must reconcile their pasts to create a future.

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race

Before John Glenn orbited the Earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets and astronauts into space. Among these problem solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation.

Washington: A Life

In Washington: A Life celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation. This crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian War, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells, taken without her knowledge, became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first immortal human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than 60 years.

The Souls of Black Folk

“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line,” writes Du Bois, in one of the most prophetic works in all of American literature. First published in 1903, this collection of 15 essays dared to describe the racism that prevailed at that time in America—and to demand an end to it. Du Bois’ writing draws on his early experiences, from teaching in the hills of Tennessee, to the death of his infant son, to his historic break with the conciliatory position of Booker T. Washington.

Shaken: Discovering Your True Identity in the Midst of Life's Storms

In this powerful book, Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow passionately shares glimpses of his journey staying grounded in the face of disappointment, criticism, and intense media scrutiny. Following an exceptional college football career with the Florida Gators and a promising playoff run with the Denver Broncos, Tebow was traded to the New York Jets. He was released after one season. In Shaken, Tebow talks about what he's learned along the way.

Black Like Me

Writer John Howard Griffin (1920-1980) decided to perform an experiment in order to learn from the inside out how one race could withstand the second class citizenship imposed on it by another race. Through medication, he dyed his skin dark and left his family and home in Texas to find out.

Publisher's Summary

George Washington Carver began life as a slave in the tumultuous world of pre - Civil War Missouri. After the war, the orphaned Carver worked as a farmer, a hotel cook, and a laundryman while pursuing an education. As a professor at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Carver spearheaded the initiative to cultivate peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes to revive the South's dismal agricultural economy. He also researched the domestic and industrial possibilities of these crops, and is most remembered for the invention of peanut butter.

I learned something about the Indelible American spirit in the face of adversity and obstacles. This book is a must read for anyone who considers themselves knowledgeable. You may be surprised what you didn't know.

I really liked how the Author was true to the spirit of George Washington Carvers environment in the south during the late eighteen hundreds. The performance was very well done. The Auditor brought the characters to life with grace and breath.

This was story of strength and quite ferocity. This man was able to get things done even when every door was closed to him. He found a window. This must be where the saying "no excuses" comes from because Mr. Carver was under constant threat of lynching, beatings, jailings and other atrocities visited upon this race of people in that era and yet he educated not only himself, but thousands of others. I had chills when I finished reading this book and though I have never been subjugated, I felt a call to action. "Each One SHOULD Teach One".

Hearing the history of George Washington Carver from birth to death and how he lead his life. I am very grateful for him and all the others who have gone on before me to pave the way so that I can live and enjoy the life I do as an American woman of African descent.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

As a matter of fact I completed the book while driving and taking my daily walks. During the breaks between listening it gave me time to think about the contributions George and Frederick Douglas both gave to humanity.